


For You to Fly

by 2space_lesbo1



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, And titles, But they're hardly in it, I want my boys to be happy ok, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Other Characters - Freeform, Soulmates, Wingfic, Yall already know who, canon character death, spoilers up to episode 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 10:31:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16952358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2space_lesbo1/pseuds/2space_lesbo1
Summary: Ash has never had wings. He's always believed he'd be the only one to never grow his own pair, but then, he meets a Japanese boy. Who also is wingless.





	For You to Fly

**Author's Note:**

> Ok listen 
> 
> i had this idea a while back and i couldn't stop writing it cause it was really cute ok
> 
> just
> 
> leave me alone
> 
> i'm not ready for episode 23 don't touch me

Ash has never had wings.

Everyone around him always grow their wings, one day or another. One day they would be wingless, just like Ash. The next, they'd have a pair of beautiful wings. 

Ash doesn't know how they gain their wings. And the people don't know, either. He asked Shorter one day, how he'd gotten his blue and lumincesant pair. The taller boy had shrugged and replied, “It just happened when the time was right.” 

Ash had no idea what that meant, and it frustrates him to no end. He wanted his wings, he wanted to be able to fly just like everyone else. But no matter how old he gets, his never grow or appear. Most people gain their wings by the age of fifteen or younger, yet he had none. 

He's come to the conclusion that he would never gain his wings. He'd be even more an outcast, walking around with empty shoulders. 

He believed he'd always be the only one without wings. But one day, when the Japanese photographers came down into their bar, Ash’s eyes widened, mouth nearly dropping open at the sight of another wingless human. 

It was one of the two photographers, though he was obviously younger than the other. He had dark hair and darker eyes, and a face that screamed innocence. He was looking around the room, taking in his new environment, no wings hanging from his shoulder blades. 

Ash couldn't believe his eyes. He'd always believed he'd be alone, and yet, here was another without wings. 

He took a liking to the Japanese instantly. Not just because he was wingless like him, but because he felt a strange surge of trust. So when he gets mixed up in Ash’s mess, captured by the pervert Martin, Ash has yet another strange surge of feeling. 

He feels a strange protectiveness over the older boy. 

Maybe it was because Ash could see it as him and Eiji against the rest of the world. Both were older than the usual age to grow wings, and the world around them was full of people that could fly while they could not. 

He wasn't the only one who couldn't fly. 

Well, that is what Ash had thought. Until Eiji had grabbed a rusting pole and vaulted himself over the wall keeping them from freedom, soaring through the air. 

As if he were flying. 

It took Ash’s breath away, and he watched in awe. His awe wasn't even broke as Eiji crashed on the other side. He was too breath taken. 

Eiji had found a way to fly without wings. 

Ash wanted to speak with Eiji. He wanted to talk and relate to the Japanese over their lack of wings. But he wouldn't get the chance for a few weeks, as they would be separated. 

But as Ash spoke with Eiji in the visiting center, he could feel strange tingling on his back. This tingling only grew as he pressed his lips to Eiji’s, almost like a snake was slithering between his shoulder blades. Not that it was an unwelcome feeling. In fact, he loved it. It was warm and reassuring and he felt as though he could do anything; including fly. 

Even if he really couldn't. 

Though, that night, as he looked himself over in the mirror, turning his bare back to see the reflection, he could just see two small bumps on both of his shoulders. He didn't know what to think of that. 

Ash finally gets to talk to Eiji when the older boy surprises everyone by driving the car away. He only surprises Ash further by refusing to leave, stating it was his problem too, now. 

He would not admit that that made him feel warm. 

There's a few seconds of silence after their prior exchange, until Ash is finally able to speak up. “You don't have wings, either,” he pointed out, and he could see Eiji’s shoulders tense beneath his shirt. Ash nearly slaps himself across the face for asking a question like that so bluntly. He's never enjoyed being asked that same question, and yet there he was, asking Eiji. How big of an idiot could he be? 

“I don’t,” Eiji replied simply, as if it weren't a big deal. Then he looks through the corner of his eye at Ash, and Ash could see the level of kindness the Japanese held in his heart. Ash envied that. “Neither do you.” 

They both remained silent after that. 

They didn't have much time to speak for a long time again, but once they were standing on the hill in Cape Cod, just the two of them again, all of the weight that had been pressuring Ash’s chest lifted. Especially when Eiji smiled warmly at him, even though he really didn't have anything to smile about. 

That same feeling from when he had kissed Eiji in prison suddenly returned on his shoulder blades as he helped adjust Eiji’s stance. The Japanese doesn't say anything, so Ash guesses he was imagining the sensation. 

“Do most people have wings in Japan?” Ash asked once Eiji had shot the gun. The older boy lowered the gun, before Ash pried it from his hand. He didn't like seeing Eiji hold it anymore. 

“Yes,” Eiji said. “Most people grow them by age fourteen. I didn't.” 

His story was just like Ash’s. 

“Yet, you learned how to fly,” Ash pointed out. “I envy that.”

Eiji shrugs, a small, sad smile gracing his lips as he replied, “Not anymore. I can't even fly that way, now.” His tone was sad and regretful, and Ash wanted to help take that pain away. He just didn't know how. Or why. 

Later that day, Ash checks his back once more in the mirror. His eyes widened, and he gasped at the sight of two, small appendages covered in golden feathers plastered to his back. The two things looked almost like wings, though they were too small, and too bent inwards, like they were broken. Ash had never had anything even close to resembling wings, so he had no idea what to do or think. 

He merely focused on them, causing them to flutter. He felt elated after that. 

He had wings. 

Of course, they were small and crude and useless(just like he was), but he'd finally grown them. 

Possibly. 

It took him the few days they had left to drive to LA to get used to them. He learned how to move them, and how to groom them. He also learned how to handle the new sensation of his shirt fabric brushing against his tiny feathered wings, and those same feathers tickling the skin of his back. 

He still hadn't learned how he'd gotten them, though. Or why he had. 

Telling Eiji to return to Japan had been beyond difficult, and his wings had begun to ache, like telling the older boy to do so was a personal crime against them. He'd had to collect himself afterwards, and, upon checking his wings in the mirror, he'd found them to be almost shriveling up. Like they'd had all of the moisture drained from them. 

He didn't know what to do about that. But it's not like he'd had a long time to think this problem over, since the next moment Max was yelling into his phone, and he and Ash were hurrying out to rescue both his wife and son. He hadn't wanted to leave Eiji. He'd had a bad feeling that something horrible was going to happen once they left, even once he'd made sure Shorter was going to stay behind. 

Upon returning, however, and finding only Ibe remaining with Eiji and Shorter and that other kid gone, Ash’s heart had stopped and his mouth had dried up. And when Ibe was finally able to tell them what happened, his own, large wings shuttering with his effort to stay sitting up, Ash had very nearly run out, ready to chase after Eiji and Shorter. 

But Max’s steel colored feathers blocked his way, and they'd discovered the scientist and the lab and then they'd been discovered and captured. 

At least he was going in the direction Eiji was. 

Seeing Dino and his demonic wings again did not make Ash feel any better. His newly formed wings pressed against his back, even as he kept on a straight and calm demeanor. He could feel his wings shuttering, and he knew from people who'd had their own wings for much longer, that a person’s wings would always betray the person’s true emotions. Like how Ash was feeling utterly horrified in that moment. 

Not that he was going to give Dino the pleasure of knowing that. 

“Sad to see that you still have not grown your pair of wings,” Dino remarked, his hungry eyes looking Ash up and down. Ash did his best to not let that gaze make him squirm. “They would make you even more beautiful than you are now.” 

“Sorry to disappoint,” Ash said dismissively, though his heart was thudding. 

Where was Eiji? 

Being chained up was hardly new for Ash. Some of the people who'd enjoyed him in the past had had strange kinks. It was just never to this same extent- with his wrists held so tightly he couldn't even move his arms. 

His tiny wings pressed tighter to his back as Arthur continued to mock him, before the doors opened nearby and Shorter was brought in. The familiar face sent a joy in Ash’s chest, causing his wings to flutter the tiniest bit. 

The feeling was short lived, though. 

Shorter’s whole posture was completely different. From his face to his wings, he was more hunched, more curled in on himself like he were terrified by everything and everyone around him. His face was screwed with fear, and his uncovered eyes reflected that same fear. His normally high held, almost transparent wings were folded to his back, as though he was trying to make himself smaller than he actually was. 

And once Eiji was brought in- Ash had been elated, so full of happiness and hope to see the older boy’s face- did Ash understand. They'd injected Shorter with Banana Fish. 

This became more evident as Shorter looked at Eiji with pure and utter horror, clawing at his own chest as he stumbled from the completely harmless Japanese boy. Arthur has then tossed the knives to both Shorter and Eiji. 

“I'd tell you to rip his wings off, but he doesn't have any,” Arthur said, and Ash wanted to tear the other blonde’s wasp like wings to pieces. 

Watching Shorter attack Eiji had been torture. But actually grabbing a gun and shooting him straight through the heart had been pure agony. Watching the life drain from Shorter’s body, watching his wings fade away, had ripped Ash’s heart apart, and his wings had shuttered. 

He'd saved Eiji. He'd ended Shorter’s suffering. But now Shorter was dead. He cried for the first time in a long, especially once they forced Eiji from the room, the older boy kicking and thrashing the entire way. 

But finding Eiji as he shot through Dino’s men later that night was all the more rewarding. Even as Eiji rushed forward to hug him, causing him to flinch, filled Ash with new hope. His wings fluttered back to life as soon as Eiji had touched him, and he was pretty sure they'd grown a bit more. 

“Give me a gun. I'll protect myself,” Eiji had said determinedly. 

“No.” Ash has stated in return. “One murderer is more than enough.” He turned to face the older boy, and he could see Eiji’s mouth drop open, his eyes filled with shock, “I'll protect you. Never leave my side.” 

His wings nearly burst from his shirt then and there, and they would have if they'd been larger. Too bad they were so small. 

Burning Shorter’s body had been beyond hard. But he knew it was for the best. No one would ever be able to touch him again. 

Being interrupted by a child with small, dragon like wings had annoyed him, but he held back, deciding to let him live. He wasn't a problem, after all. 

Being with Eiji the next day was all the medicine Ash needed. The Japanese boy has a way to make Ash feel like there was nothing bad in the world, and like nothing horrible could ever happen to them again. Even as Eiji laughed at him about his fear of pumpkins, and he became flustered with embarrassment, Ash couldn't help but enjoy himself. 

When he next checked on his wings, they were even larger than before, the tips of the golden feathers just poking out of the bottom of his shirt. He'd actually have to start buying clothes made for wings soon. 

Though, for some reason, he didn't want to, almost. 

Maybe it was because he felt as though he were betraying Eiji in a way, almost, by finally growing his wings. Especially just after bo ding over the fact neither of them had wings to begin with. 

He was suddenly feeling guilty about his wings now. 

He would have to hide them, then. He didn't want Eiji hating him for growing his wings. 

The idea of Eiji hating him over something like this sounded stupid even to Ash, but he couldn't shake the fear any less. Eiji was now the last, close person Ash had in his life. And he wasn't going to let anything- even his own wings- ruin that. 

But, as his wings grew larger every day as he spent more time with Eiji, it was becoming harder to hide them. And, he was discovering that wings needed proper care to keep them from throbbing uncontrollably. So whenever he is sure he is alone, he'd allow his wings to spread out fully. It was always an amazing feeling, seeing his own wings shoot outwards from his shoulders. They'd grown larger, longer than the length of both of his arms combined and they now shone bright gold in the sun’s light. They were an even more gold shade than his blonde hair, which he found fascinating. They looked almost like hey were made of actual pure gold. Yet, they were so light, he could sometimes forget they were there. 

Now, he's on the roof of the condo building he'd bought his and Eiji’s room from. He'd already removed his shirt, and now his wings are tumbled over both of his arms, the tips hanging over the edge of the building as he leaned against it. The wind gently blows by, brushing through his feathers. He has a brush out, and he is currently doing his best to brush them down and out, but it was quite difficult, especially when they are much longer than his arms and are growing from his back. But he'd found brushing the dead feathers and living ones was quite soothing, and he did enjoy doing it. He just didn't get to often. 

Today, though, he was kind of annoyed by how large and long his wings were. Why couldn't they have just stayed small like they'd start out? Then they'd be way easier to manage. Not like he was ever going to proudly display them to the world at any point. 

He curses silently to himself, leaning forward to try and reach the tips of the wing he was currently brushing(he really could just move the wing upwards, but he was too annoyed to think of that), when he hears the door open behind him. He's moving in an instant, wings bending to be pressed as best they could to his back and gun in his hands and raised in a second. 

Eiji was standing in front of the door, his eyes wide- not at the gun pointed at him, though. Never would(or should) he fear Ash shooting him at any point. No, his dark eyes were locked on the brilliant gold wings folded to Ash’s back, mouth hanging open. 

Ash’s arms go limp, and the gun hangs uselessly at his side. He bites down on his lip, not used to being this nervous. His wings press tighter to his shoulders, as though trying to disappear. Just as Ash wants them to currently. 

“Ash…” Eiji whispered, with something like awe in his voice. His eyes sparkled. “You have wings…” 

Ash hugs himself, ashamed. Eiji had seen the secret he'd been trying so hard to hide. “I'm sorry, Eiji,” he said, his voice tight. “I don't know why they grew, they shouldn't have-”

“Ash!” Eiji exclaimed suddenly, and the rest of Ash’s words dies in his throat. The older boy steps closer, eyes locked on the golden wings. “Do not be sorry. Why would you be sorry? They're gorgeous!” He reaches a hand up, like he was about to run his fingers through Ash’s feathers, but pauses. He looks to Ash, searching. “Can I touch them?” 

There's a second of shocked silence on Ash’s end. Eiji… didn't hate him. He draws in a deep breath, and then nods, letting the wing closest to Eiji uncurl from his back. The Japanese boy lets out a surprised laugh, as though he'd never seen a pair of wings before, and then he was petting Ash’s wing, and that tingling feeling that had once been one his back runs through both of his wings. The feathers seem to hum and glow brighter with Eiji’s gentle, exploring touch. 

Ash watches Eiji with nothing but pure love and wonder in his eyes. Eiji seems to notice his gaze, because dark eyes finally tear from bright feathers to meet green eyes. “What is it, Ash? Is it not okay?” his hands are already moving from Ash’s wings, like they'd heated up. 

“No, no, it's okay,” Ash said quickly. Eiji pauses. “It's just… I’d been worried you'd hate me, for growing wings.” 

He's surprised when Eiji laughs warmly, shaking his head. His cheeks warm. “W- what?!” 

“That is such a Japanese thing for you to feel,” Eiji said a second later, rubbing at one of his eyes. Then, he steps back, and grabs the bottom of his shirt. His eyes dart to the ground for a second. He sombers. “Because I’d felt the same way…” 

And then his shirt was off, and a small pair of dark wings, the feathers tipped with white. Well, okay, they were too small. They just were if compared to Ash’s, because while the American’s wingspan past his arms length, Eiji’s reach only the tips of his fingers. Just large enough for him to glide if he chose to. 

Ash’s eyes widen. “You… you also have wings,” he said, dumbly. Eiji nodded, and his wings curl to wrap around his forearms, covering his bare chest, cheeks reddening.

“Ye- yeah…” Eiji said with a small nod. “But I only got them recently, after meeting you.”

“Same here,” Ash said, realization suddenly hitting him.

A person’s wings only grow once the time is right. Once they’ve earned them or found their place in life. Shorter had said his place in life was leading his gang, and the day after, his wings had begun to grow. Max had told him that he’d gotten his wings after he’d had Michael, and even if he never got to see his son, his wings grew to be quite large. He’d said it was his place in life to be a father, even if he couldn’t always see his son.

Ash and Eiji hadn’t grown their wings until they’d be met one another. Ash’s wings would always only grow whenever he was around Eiji, and they would grow warm at the other boy’s light yet clumsy touch.

It was Ash’s place in life to be with Eiji. To always be beside him. 

The shock is almost enough to knock the breath out of him, and he has to place a hand to his forehead. He looks up a moment later, and knows Eiji must have come to the same conclusion, because he was smiling warmly, eyes sparkling with tender adoration.

“If my place is to always be with you,” Eiji began, and now Ash can’t breathe, the air getting caught in his throat. “Then I am happy.”

Ash’s wings tingled at Eiji’s words, and his eyes fill with moisture. He never imagined anyone would ever say anything along those lines to him, and now Ash was at a loss for words himself. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, and Eiji’s smile only softens.

Eiji’s own smaller pair of wings close, and Ash’s heart cracks, because the Japanese must feel self-conscious of his wings. He could read that feeling all over Eiji’s face; he doesn’t think his wings are as beautiful as Ash’s when, really, his were the most gorgeous pair there could ever be. Even if they were simple, Ash loved them. He steps forward, his wings hanging limply behind him now. He looks to the older boy’s wings.

“Can I touch them?” Ash asks what Eiji had hardly a few minutes ago, and Eiji’s eyes widen. He meets the American’s gaze, his dark eyes once more sparkling. He nods, wings slowly reopening, and Ash nearly loses his breath again at the older boy’s blind trust. He reaches upwards, lightly dragging his fingertips over the silky smooth feathers of the man he trusted most. Eiji shutters, but says nothing, and so he continues, in awe of how smooth and soft they were. 

He then notices a few loose and old feathers, and begins to gently pluck them out from the rest of the healthy feathers, beginning to preen Eiji’s wings without even noticing. The older boy must not be able to reach the outsides of his wings as easily as Ash could, seeing how his pair of wings don’t even reach past his fingertip length.

He’s so caught up in what he’s doing, he doesn’t even notice when Eiji angles his head to look back at him over his shoulder. “What are you doing?” the older boy asked, and Ash nearly jumps out of his skin, his silent reverie cleaning broken.

He pulls his hands back, rubbing them together as Eiji turns to face him fully, his wings held out still. “Oh, well, I saw that you had a few old feathers, so I was taking them out…” Ash replied a tad weakly, and Eiji raises an eyebrow.

“Really?” the Japanese asked, and once Ash nods, he grins. “Thanks! I should clean yours, too!” He pauses, smile loosening a tiny bit. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”

Ash’s chest warms and he can’t stop himself as he pulls Eiji into a hug, his wings also wrapping around the smaller boy. Eiji doesn’t hesitate to to return the hug, burying his face in Ash’s chest. Their wings brush against each other, and that warmth from before explodes within Ash, and so he hugs Eiji tighter.

“You really do have beautiful wings, Ash,” Eiji whispered into the American’s shirt.

But Ash hears it, and his heart swells with more love than ever before.

**Author's Note:**

> lemme know what y'all think???? i guess????


End file.
